Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Atria Shopping Gallery - Reataurants, Books, & Foreign Workers At A Glance

The old Atria Shopping Center at Damansara Jaya, Petaling Jaya,  was demolished 8 years ago to make way for a new one called Atria Shopping Gallery which was officially opened to the public on May 28, 2015.

 Exterior View 


The two office blocks are expected to be completed by July this year.


 Restaurants & Cafes

 

Most of the restaurants were located on the first floor. Let me walk through some of those with you.

 
Although Wendy's occupied a strategic location on the left of the main entrance, business was very slow.

I was sitting on one of these chairs next to the dining area of Wendy's to take the two snapshots.



In contrast, much more customers either dined or take out their meals in the KFC on the right of the entrance.


I saw 2 Malay women sitting at this corner chatting and their kids were drinking and eating in the KFC. Nothing unusual but it was during the Muslim fasting month and according to Koran, even kids as young as 7 years old are commanded to fast.



Artistry is a cafe which I think is quite ordinary. 





They don' t call this shop as Kampong Kravers for nothing, you know? 




Beside other local food and snacks, Kampong Kravers sold one of my favorites, i.e. curry puffs of various fillings. They looked yummy. However, all the employees there weren't from our "kampong" (village in English) but hailed from Bangladesh, I suppose.


Let's check out the price list. If you think they are expensive, you always have the option of going to one of those "mamak" (Indian Muslim in English) coffee shops.


One of the big players, Starbucks Coffee, was there also.



Hardcore smokers like me would prefer a smoking zone (albeit non-air-conditioned) like this one of Starbucks Coffee. Hey, the chairs were more comfortable than those inside and they put some plants here. I like that.




One of the major rivals of Starbucks Coffee is Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf as pictured above.



My goodness! They also "seduced" me with one of my favorite snacks, curry puffs. The spicy chicken puff on the right not only looked huge and crispy  but delicious too.



Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf  understood the physical and psychological needs of smokers as well. See? They provided a smoking zone although they were stingy in getting more plants comparing to Starbuck Coffee. Honestly I don' t care as long as there's a legitimate place for me to top up my nicotine.





There was a restaurant called Papa Rich on the same floor. I was wondering whether there was a competitor called Mama Rich. By the way, the woman in green skirt couldn't survive without a cell phone.




Mardiner Abdu Rahman was one of the service staff in Papa Rich. He came from Sulu, the Philippines, and a Moro (Muslim Filipino) but he was friendly and had no relationship with the infamous Abu Sayyaf terrorist group.




Pamela worked there as a waitress and she was from Pangasinan, Luzon, the Philippines also. She answered all my questions either regarding the food or her background although I didn't patronize the restaurant. She was a nice, hardworking and sincere girl. I like her. Anyway, coincidentally one of my ex-girlfriend was from Pangasina too. Looks like those girls born in Pangasinan are wife materials. 

Well, what did they serve?


Aha! "Chay Koay Teow" (Chinese fried flat rice noodle) looked delicious to me.


Look, they were extremely serious about their "Chay Keoy Teow", okay?


Holy smoke! They really knew what I love to eat, such as "nasi lemak" (rice cooked with coconut milk and pandan leaves) served either with curry chicken, satay, or cuttle fish.




What a surprise! They even served 5 vegetarian dishes including "nasi lemak" in 2 different flavors.



The name of this Nyonya restaurant is self-explanatory. Their specialty is Nyonya food ( a spicy cuisine consisting of a combination of Malay and Chinese ingredients and techniques).



The one and only restaurant that served Vietnamese food was called Pho Vietz. Whether the chef came from Vietnam is another story, right?

I found a Japanese restaurant called Yuu-jo. They stationed neither a sexy Japanese girl or a local waitress to welcome customers at the entrance but a foreign worker.


If you fancy some Chinese herbal drinks or desserts, try this shop.


Money Changers 





There were 2 money changers ran by Muslim Indians here. One  of them was Al-Tamij which sounds like Arabic to me. Have you ever wondered why almost all money changers in Malaysia are Muslim Indians? So, did they give you good rates? Let's find out now.



Not bad indeed as of June 29, 2015. The only thing that depressed me was the weakening of Malaysian Ringgit against all major and some regional currencies.

Books (And Toys)


I'm a book lover (not just woman lover, mind you). However, for many years I have stopped buying books since they were way too expensive. There were new books on sales at a discounted price ranging from 30 to 90%. Let me pick a couple of examples.



My dad bought this book 37 years ago and I still keep it.


My dad only paid a fraction of the price of what it costs now.



My dad bought this one too.





Also it cost my dad a fraction of this price also.


Do you know this guy?  Every Ali, Ah Beng, and Arumugam in Malaysia know him. You want me to buy this book? Over my dead body! Let's see how much it cost on that day.




Don't waste your hard-earned money and time reading or buying his memoirs. If you still insist, I don't give a shit.

What about the the other book as pictured below?




This book is a must read if you want to know how this very capable former leader of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, transformed his country from nothing to one of the top 5 richest country in the world in a time frame unmatched in human history.  He is one of my most respected leaders in the world if you don't know anything about me.




It's worth every single cent!  Hurry, while stock lasts.


One of the books I would like to read is this one pictured below.



If you don't know what ISIS stand for, I feel sorry for you. Ever heard of Islamic State, Iraq, and Syria? No? Too bad.

What Was Missing In This Shopping Mall?

To me, it's a watery hole. Period.




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